It was a classic political photo opportunity: a shiny new bus for politicians to ride while talking about the merits of express bus service.

But when the bus left the Milwaukee County Courthouse on Tuesday, some city officials weren't on board - literally or figuratively.

In a metaphor for the disagreements that have permeated the public transit debate for nearly 17 years, a communications mix-up left several top city administrators standing outside Milwaukee City Hall, waiting for a bus that never showed up.

North American Bus Industries Inc., an Alabama-based transit bus manufacturer, brought a hybrid diesel-electric bus to demonstrate the kind of vehicle that is at the heart of a debate over how to use $91.5 million in long-idle federal funds.

County Executive Scott Walker wants to use all of that money for express buses, also known as bus rapid transit. Mayor Tom Barrett wants to divide the money between express buses and modern streetcars. The cash is all that's left of $289 million first appropriated in 1991 for a public transit project, but state and local officials never have been able to agree on what that project should be.

After a news conference, Walker - who hasn't yet decided which type of express bus he prefers - rode the diesel-electric bus from the courthouse to Miller Park and back, along with several county, city and Milwaukee County Transit System officials and journalists.

But some city officials had been told that the bus would stop at City Hall. Cecilia Gilbert, spokeswoman for the city Department of Public Works, said she waited in vain with Public Works Commissioner Jeff Mantes and City Engineer Jeff Polenske after receiving an e-mail from a transit system manager.

Walker spokeswoman Fran McLaughlin said the county executive's office had sent invitations to city officials, but only Ald. Jim Bohl said he was coming. Bohl was told of the route change, and the bus picked him up at the Marquette University campus.

Transit system spokeswoman Jacqueline Janz said the trip was arranged on short notice, and the Miller Park route was picked to provide a smooth and easy ride.

But the ride was neither smooth nor easy for the broader transit issues, as Walker and Barrett continued to snipe at each other in separate interviews.

Walker said the streetcar loop, which he derided as a "tourist trolley," would take money away from the financially ailing transit system by competing for limited state and federal aid.

Barrett said county officials had "put the bus system into its current death spiral" by relying on a different pot of federal money to pay for transit operations instead of using it to buy buses.

Separate reports by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and the Public Policy Forum have warned that after that money is used up, by 2010, the bus system will be forced to cut service by 35%. Those reports say that likely would end all Freeway Flyer routes and nearly all suburban, night and weekend service - unless new state or local funding is found.

State and local officials have yet to agree on a funding plan.

The 60-foot hybrid bus demonstrated Tuesday costs about $900,000, carries 63 passengers and gets 7.5 miles per gallon on the freeway and 4.5 mpg in the city, the manufacturer says.

By comparison, the transit system's current 40-foot diesel buses each cost about $350,000, carry 40 passengers and average 4.4 mpg between city and freeway use, county and transit system officials say.